Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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624. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued for the shame and stigma imposed on unmarried mothers and their children through the policies and practices of the State. [26917/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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625. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued to adopted persons who had to grow up with no knowledge of their origins. [26918/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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626. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued to persons who were illegally adopted. [26919/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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627. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued to adopted persons for the loss of their identity. [26920/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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630. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued to adopted persons who had to grow up in abusive families due to the lack of proper assessments and follow ups. [26923/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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632. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued to natural fathers who wished to raise and-or have contact with their children but were denied the opportunity to do so. [26925/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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633. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an acknowledgement will be issued of the effects on past and future generations of families affected by the institutional system. [26926/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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635. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued for the continued stigma and discrimination imposed on adopted persons and natural parents through the lack of statutory rights and services. [26928/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 624 to 627, inclusive, 630, 632, 633 and 635 together.

Many of the matters raised by the Deputy are being considered by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. The Commission is due to submit its final report to me next month and its remit includes investigating the entry and exit pathways for mothers and their children through certain Mother and Baby Homes. As Minister, I cannot pre-empt the findings of the Commission and I do not intend to make any public statement on historic adoption issues in advance of the final report.

In terms of illegal birth registrations, the Commission's second interim report recognised that these individuals have a need to establish their identity, but also acknowledged that the false registration of births is a very difficult issue to investigate because of a lack of accurate records. The Deputy will be aware that in the case of St Patrick’s Guild, detailed records were kept and 151 cases of illegal birth registrations were identified by Tusla. The process of contacting and then supporting those affected by the illegal birth registrations uncovered on those files is reaching completion, and is being handled very carefully, on a case by case basis, and at the pace of the individual concerned. Tusla social workers are supporting the individuals affected as they deal with the news of their illegal birth registration and have put in place a dedicated counselling service.

In relation to the issue of information and tracing in the context of adoption, the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 has lapsed and I am currently considering the complex matters involved before deciding on how best to legislate in this important area.

I believe it is acknowledged by all parties that adoption in the past was often a secretive process, carried out sometimes without due regard to the rights and interests of those involved, and to the lifelong impact on those individuals. However, adoption today is a service for children, to provide a family to care for them when their parents are unable to do so, and where adoption is in their best interests.

Today, the safeguards in the adoption acts ensure that the best interests of the child are the paramount consideration in all adoption cases, and in every step of the process. Modern day adoption legislation and practice also ensures that the rights of all involved are vindicated, including birth fathers, within the overarching framework of working for the best interests of the child involved.

I expect to be in a position to comment in more detail on the issues raised by the Deputy, in the context of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation's final report.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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628. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued for the incarceration of women and children in mother and baby homes and similar institutions. [26921/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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629. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued to mothers and relatives whose children died in institutions due to abuse and neglect. [26922/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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631. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued for the policies and practices that caused mothers and children to be separated from each other by forcing and coercing women into relinquishing their babies. [26924/20]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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634. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an apology will be issued to mothers who were denied knowledge of their rights, which prevented them from giving informed consent. [26927/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 628, 629, 631 and 634 together.

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was established by Government to investigate the significant concerns related to the institutional care of unmarried mothers and their babies during the period 1922 to 1998. The Commission is tasked with providing a full account of what happened to vulnerable women and children in these institutions.

I am acutely aware of the importance of this Commission's work and how much its final report is anticipated by former residents and their families.

Notably, all of the specific concerns raised by the Deputy are central to the Commission's terms of reference. The Commission has the robust statutory powers, resources and expertise necessary to examine these matters in a way that has never been possible before.

I absolutely share the desire of all interested parties to see the Commission conclude its work, and I look forward to receiving the final report at the end of October. However, in the interim, it is not appropriate to pre-empt the findings and conclusions of the Commission on these deeply personal and sensitive matters. To do so could potentially compromise the outcome of this important work.

As members of an Oireachtas which called for the establishment of this Commission, we owe it to all those who have so courageously shared their experiences with the Commission, to carefully and calmly examine its final report before responding. Our duty to the women and children who passed through these institutions, and to their families, is to ensure that their lived experiences are shared, acknowledged and understood.

When the Commission delivers its final report next month, its conclusions on all matters regarding the treatment of former residents of Mother and Baby Homes, and related institutions, will be taken into careful consideration in determining the appropriate State response.